Be Careful What You Wish For
by Cosmos Crystal
Summary: Sakura loses her memory, and when she wakes up all she can remember is that she is madly in love with.... Naruto!
1. Default Chapter

Naruto and all other characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. I've just stolen them for my own nefarious purposes, which basically involve making as much fun of Sakura as possible and giving Naruto a nice present for awhile.   
  
"He's late!" They both cursed at the same time.  
  
Naruto and Sakura were waiting on the usual bridge. Sakura was leaning against the railing and Naruto was sitting down, having just woken up from a nap and surprised to find that Kakashi-sensei STILL hadn't come. Well, not that surprised actually.  
  
"I wonder where Sasuke-kun is..." Sakura wondered aloud.  
  
"Eh, who cares about him?"  
  
Naruto promptly found himself with a bump the size of a fist on his head.  
  
Naruto sighed. "The least he could do is let us know he was gonna be late so I could get a little more sleep..."   
  
At the sound of footsteps, they both looked up. "There he is!!" They both declared.  
  
Just as Sasuke was making his way to the bridge, walking with a cool stride with his hands in his pockets, Kakashi appeared on the arch above the bridge. "Sorry, I was doing some training on the way when i ran into..."  
  
"LIAR!!!" Sakura and Naruto interjected.  
  
"Anyway," Kakashi's tone turned serious. "Today's mission is going to be one of the most dangerous ones you have ever encountered..." he leapt down from his post and faced the group with a cold, narrowed eye. "...you might even die."  
  
Sakura gulped. Sasuke stared on, his arms crossed. Naruto's eyes lit up. "Yeah!!! Bring it on!!!" He began to jump up and down. "So? What is the mission?"  
  
"We have to rescue an old woman's lost cat."  
  
Sakura was perfectly still. Sasuke stared on, his arms crossed. Naruto turned to stone, his face bearing his trademark pout. "Whaaa...?"   
  
"Dangerous, my ass!!" Inner Sakura punched the air. "Sha-n-naro!"  
  
"So how is this mission 'dangerous?'" Sasuke asked as the other two seemed to be involved in their own thoughts.  
  
"Well," Kakashi said. "The cat has actually been found. But it seems that it has wandered up into the mountains, in a region full of snakes, mountain lions, and other dangerous animals. There are also many hidden cliffs, and the area has been classified as forbidden for anyone besides Jounin. However, the nature of the mission ranks it as a D-rank mission, so Genin are the only ones that can take it."  
  
Naruto slowly began to come back to life. Inner Sakura was calm. Sasuke still didn't care... or at least wouldn't admit it if he did. When Kakashi found that all of his students had returned to normal, he continued on.  
  
"Now, normally I would have us split up and scout the area, but for now I think we should go in pairs. Let's see... Sasuke, you come with me, Sakura, you go with Naruto."   
  
"Whaaaaa??!!!!!" Sakura shrieked.  
  
A few minutes later Sakura found herself walking alone... well, next to HIM, but still basically alone in her own mind. Naruto walked along humming softly, looking here and there, dashing from one side of the road to the other in hopes of finding the cat before Sasuke could get his hands on it. "Well, it's hopeless, OBVIOUSLY Sasuke-kun will get it before we do, because I'll have to spend the whole time saving Naruto's ass!!!" Sakura muttered under her breath.  
  
"Huh? Say something?" Naruto looked back at her, his body bent over a cluster of bushes. She imagined that if he was a dog his tail would be wagging spastically right about now.  
  
"You heard Kakashi-sensei... the cat is up the mountains, not here!! So you can stop searching!"  
  
With his tail between his legs and his hands in his pockets, Naruto came sulking back. "Right..."   
  
As a beeping came through, Sakura's hands flew to the headset covering both her ears. "This is Sasuke. We are approaching the estimated location. Over."  
  
"How are you guys doing?" Kakashi's voice came through.  
  
Sakura was stunned. They weren't even halfway there! And it was all Naruto's fault!!!! Her eye began to twitch. "Na-ru-to!!!" She screamed.  
  
Unfortunately for her, she had stopped walking while communicating (let's just say Sakura isn't very coordinated) and since they had been approaching the top of a hill, Naruto was nowhere in sight.  
  
She heard a sound behind her and froze. She turned her head to find herself face to face with a mountain lion about as big as herself.  
  
"GYAAAAAHHH!!!!!"  
  
Just then something jumped out of nowhere and tackled the lion. Her eyes widened as she watched Naruto.... well, three Narutos, actually... wrestle with the creature, and a fourth take a defensive stance in front of her. "Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" He asked.  
  
"Baka!!! Run!!!" She took his hand and they dashed up the hill.... only to find themselves on the edge of a canyon. They heard the sound of disappearing clones on the other side of the cliff and they knew that Naruto had been beaten. Then with a snarl and a jump, the lion landed in front of them, snarling. "You made it angry!! Why did you do that?"  
  
"I... I was just trying to save you!" Sakura thought she could feel a twinge of hurt in his voice, and part of her wanted to slap herself for being so mean to him. The other part of her was thinking frantically for a plan.   
  
"If we gather enough chakra in our feet we should be able to jump to the other side!" She shouted.  
  
"Got it! I'll distract him while you go! I'll follow!" He put his fingers together. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
  
Once again three more Naruto's appeared, and they both stood at the edge with their eyes closed. Blue chakra began to swirl around their feet, and they both crouched down low.  
  
"Ready, JUMP!!!"  
  
Naruto's clones disappeared as he worked to control all of his chakra into his feet. We're gonna die if this doesn't work... he thought desperately.  
  
"Ahh!! Naruto!!!" Sakura shrieked as the last of her chakra disappeared and she began to fall.  
  
"Sakura-chan!!" He let his chakra go and reached out his arms, wrapping himself around her so that he would be the first to hit the ground.   
  
Naruto... he's.... protecting me.... Sakura thought as she lost consciousness. 


	2. chapter 2

"Sakura-chan!"  
  
"Don't touch her!" Kakashi held up his hand to stop Naruto. Once again Sasuke had jumped in for a heroic rescue, and though Naruto wanted to beat him for it, he decided it could at least wait until Sakura was awake. Of course she would probably open her eyes, jump up and kiss Sasuke and thank him for saving her, and make Naruto look even worse. She would never even notice him.  
  
Sasuke stared down at the annoying girl, reveling in the fact that for once her mouth was shut. Well, not really. He did have some feeling, but he wondered why in the world she liked him so much. He did have to admit that the attention was nice, but sometimes he just wished he could do without it.  
  
"Unnh..."  
  
"She's waking up!"  
  
They all looked down as Sakura slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a couple of times, sat up, and looked around at everyone in turn. First she stared at Sasuke, her face blank, then turned to Kakashi, then to Naruto.  
  
And she jumped into Naruto's arms and kissed him.  
  
Naruto could feel his face turning bright red. "Sa-Sakura-chan!!"  
  
She drew away. Her face was red too, and she had a big sheepish smile. "Naruto!"   
  
The other three were perfectly silent. "Um... Naruto..." Sasuke stuttered. "Did Sakura... hit her head or something?"  
  
She turned toward him, her face angry. "Who's Sakura?"   
  
Naruto facefaulted. "You're Sakura!!"   
  
"Oh? Well, I don't know who THIS annoying idiot is," she guestured toward Sasuke with her thumb. "But there is NO way I could have hit my head. You would have protected me, right Naruto?" She jumped into his arms again.   
  
"Hmm... it seems like Sakura has amnesia... perhaps trauma from the fall?" Kakashi rubbed his chin, not seeming to be surprised by the situation at all. "We should get her to a doctor. We'll continue the mission tomorrow."  
  
"But..." Naruto argued from under a bush of pink hair.  
  
"Fine with me," Sasuke put his hands in his pockets and stood up.  
  
"Only if my Naru-chan comes with me!!"  
  
"Na.... NARU-CHAN??!!"  
  
  
  
"Hm... yes, it seems like Haruno has a case of short-term amnesia," a fat, middle aged doctor said as he examined his patient, who was sitting on an exam table clinging to one of Naruto's arms. Naruto stood there awkwardly while Kakashi leaned forward in a nearby chair. Sakura didn't seem to be disturbed by the report at all. In fact, she wasn't even paying attention.   
  
"Ooh! That's such a pretty headband, Naru-chan!" She stroked his head protector. "Where'd you get it?"  
  
Naruto looked over at Kakashi helplessly. Kakashi shrugged. It was hard to tell whether or not he was smiling with the mask that covered his mouth, but Naruto guessed that he was secretly laughing at him. "Well... Sakura-chan... his voice shook. "You have one too, you know."  
  
Her hands flew to her head, and she pulled her own head protector out of her hair. She turned it over a few times in her hands and giggled. "Ooh! Cool! I have one just like yours!"  
  
"Well, anyway, she's free to leave whenever she wants." The doctor said, his attention turned toward Kakashi now that he knew Sakura herself didn't care. "She has no other injuries, so there's no reason to keep her here. It's hard to tell when she'll regain her memory, it might be a day, it might be a month, and it might never come back."   
  
The group left the hospital, Sakura still clinging onto Naruto's arm. "Naruto, if you could take her home, I have some business to attend to." Kakashi jumped out of sight, and he found himself alone with Sakura. He didn't know what to say, so he began to walk toward her house. Being attached to him, she naturally followed.  
  
When they stood in front of her door, he spoke. "Um... well... you should be going on in now...." Naruto said nervously.  
  
"No!" She tugged on his arm and stamped her foot like a child. "I wanna stay with you!"  
  
Naruto looked around him frantically for an escape. There had to be something...  
  
"Ah! Look! There's Sasuke!"  
  
Sakura frowned. "Why would I care if Sasuke-kun were coming? All I care about is YOU, Naruto!"  
  
On to plan B, Naruto thought. RUN!!!!  
  
He ran with all that he had in him, and somehow managed to detach Sakura from his arm in the process. Gotta get away from her! Gotta get away from her! He skidded to a stop when he reached his own house, bending down and panting.   
  
"Silly Naruto! Trying to run away from me?!"  
  
Before he could turn around Sakura had clobbered him and he was on the ground. His mind turned blank, and he resigned himself to the fact that there was no getting rid of her. Sure he had the biggest crush on her ever, but when he thought of their possible relationship stalking had never entered his mind, and now he found the whole thing a bit disturbing. But there was nothing he could do! Unless... unless he could find a way to get her memory back!   
  
But it had been such a long day... and he was tired... maybe he would find a way to get Sakura's memory back tomorrow. 


	3. chapter 3

Naruto opened his eyes the next morning to find a pair of big blue eyes staring back at him.  
  
"Waaaaaaaahhh!!!!!" He jumped out of bed, and Sakura stared up at him innocently. He pointed to a pile of empty sheets at the foot of his bed. "I told you to sleep on the floor! THE FLOOR!!!"  
  
"But I wanted to sleep with you..." She sat up, then suddenly she perked up and a wide smile appeared on her face. "I know!! I'll make Naru-chan's breakfast!" She flew out of the room and Naruto could hear clanging noises in the kitchen.  
  
He was too shocked to move for a few minutes, but when he smelled something burning he was on his feet and in the kitchen in a second. Sakura was tending to a pan on the stove, not seeming to notice the thick smoke billowing all around her. She used a spatula to sadistically torture the charred black eggs in front of her, shaking the pan every few seconds and humming to herself.   
  
"Sakura-chan! They're burning!!" He grabbed a nearby bucket and filled it with water from the sink, then shoved her out of the way and poured the water over the stove. He heard a little yelp from behind him, and he suddenly felt something very hot... and squishy... on the top of his head. He only had a second to think about what it could possibly be before he felt a watery black egg slide down the side of his face.  
  
He turned to her, a look of utter amazement on his face. She giggled. "Naruto! You look so CUTE like that!!" She poked his face and peeled the egg away.  
  
"Sakura-chan...."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Let's just have ramen for breakfast, ok?"  
  
Yamanaka Ino was having one of the worst days of her life. She had overslept, looked disgusting, and had no time for breakfast before she had to meet her team for a mission. As she left her house, she searched around to make sure that nobody she knew was looking... she didn't want them to see her looking like that (she didn't really care about her team seeing her... Shikamaru didn't care about much of anything, and Chouji was... Chouji). The worst person she could possibly run into now was...  
  
"Excuse me!"  
  
Ino stopped in her tracks. Sakura. How... how, when she had not seen her rival for days, did she have to find Ino TODAY of all days? She took a deep breath; there was only one way. She had to get rid of her, and get out of there as soon as possible. She turned around.  
  
"Listen, Sakura, I'm in a really bad mood today, I don't care about Sasuke right now and I really don't feel like fighting... with... you..." What she saw as she turned around made her voice catch in her throat.  
  
Sakura was hanging on an embarassed-looking Naruto's arm. She wore a goofy smile, and looked more friendly than Ino had ever seen her before.   
  
"I'm sorry!" Sakura said in abashed yet cheerful voice. "I was just going to ask you if you could move out of our way, 'cause Naru-chan and I have this important... what is it called again, dear?" She poked Naruto's cheek, which turned redder at the touch... if that was at all possible.  
  
"Mission," he muttered.  
  
"Oh, right." She turned to Ino. "A mission."  
  
Ino stared from one to the other in shock. Who were these people, and what had they done with Naruto and Sakura? She opened her mouth with great effort. "So... you're not gonna fight me for Sasuke anymore?"  
  
Sakura looked at her. "Sasuke? OH! That guy! What, you want him? Have him! I have Naruto anyway, I don't need that rude guy! Anyway, it was nice meeting you! See ya!" She trotted off, dragging Naruto's arm along with her as the rest of his body was forced to follow.  
  
Ino was unable to move. Had she just seen... what she thought she had seen? Sakura had given up Sasuke... for Naruto?? Ino felt her forehead. Was she catching a cold or something? She did feel pretty tired... and now she was hallucinating, too. Without a word she turned around, went back into her house, and climbed back into bed.   
  
Naruto was angry because once again, Kakashi-sensei was late. Sasuke was angry because he was getting sick of Sakura, who, for a change, was paying no attention to him whatsoever but was instead squeezing Naruto's arm to the point that he was surprised it didn't just fall off. Sakura was perfectly happy.  
  
After about an hour or so of Naruto's fuming, Sasuke's brooding, and Sakura's annoying fangirl-like hanging, Kakashi finally strolled onto the bridge as if he had two more hours to kill. He looked up at them with a glint in his one visible eye. Before Naruto could yell at him for being late, he spoke one simple sentence.  
  
"Today's mission: return Sakura's memory." 


	4. chapter 4 Fini

"This time we stay together," Kakashi instructed as they walked at a brisk pace down the road. "We kinda still have to finish that other mission..." he sweatdropped "so we'll be searching around here for the target... and a way to get Sakura's memory back."  
  
Sasuke, being the only one listening, asked a question that nobody had thought to ask before, a question they probably should have asked in the beginning.  
  
"What does the target look like, Sensei?"  
  
"Well, this partictular cat is..."  
  
"GAAAAAAHH!!!"  
  
Everyone stopped and looked to where Naruto's shaking finger was pointing. In the road in front of them had appeared the same mountain lion that had attacked him and Sakura the day before. Now it glared daggers at the group and licked its chops menacingly.  
  
Each of the members of the team reacted differently to the sudden appearance of the predator. Naruto tripped as Sakura pushed him forward exclaiming "Go get 'im tiger!" Sasuke's hand flew to the leg pocket where ke kept his kunai, and Kakashi whipped something strange out of his vest.  
  
The lion pounced.  
  
Everyone jumped out of the way except for Sakura, who was yelling "Here kitty kitty!" Naruto and Sasuke landed in the branches of a nearby tree, Kakashi swooped down to save Sakura from the pouncing lion. He landed neatly on a nearby branch, and the lion was left to scratch feebly at the foot of the tree.  
  
"That," Kakashi pointed, smiling. "Is our target."  
  
"Whaaaat??!!" Naruto and Sasuke gasped in unison.  
  
"Cool!" (that was Sakura)  
  
"But th-that's not a cat!!" Naruto protested.  
  
"Um.... yes it is... just a very big one," Sasuke said, still in disbelief.  
  
"Exactly," Kakashi said. "And all we need is this." Kakashi revealed the object he had taken out, which appeared to be some sort of ocarina or flute. "Keiko-chan likes music, she falls asleep at the sound of this flu..."  
  
Keiko-chan began to climb the tree, and the branches began to shake. Sasuke nimbly leapt into another tree, but the rest of the party was caught by surprise. Kakashi jumped just in time, barely managing to grab Sakura along with him, and in the blink of an eye two things were falling from the tree.... the flute, and Naruto.  
  
Both hit the ground at the same time (physics 101), but only one stayed intact... the flute lay in two pieces. Naruto, who had managed to land right on his rear, rubbed the sore spot carefully and made a noise that sounded somewhat like a whimper. Keiko-chan eyed him suspiciously, and Kakashi moved to swoop Naruto out of the way of harm... but just as he moved to do so, he got an idea. He stood still as the lion began to pounce on the helpless boy.  
  
"Sensei!" Sasuke gasped.  
  
Kakashi put a hand up, stopping Sasuke in his tracks. "Just watch," he whispered.  
  
Naruto's heart pounded. He suddenly found himself rooted to the spot, and though he begged his body to move nothing happened. He could feel the wind whoosh around him as the menace came closer and closer, and then...   
  
Something crashed into him from the side, and he found himself rolling sideways. He closed his eyes tightly, but not soon enough to miss seeing the lion smash into the tree and flashes of pink hair whipping around him. He felt himself hit the ground with one final bounce and then scraped to a stop. He opened his eyes gingerly to find himself lying on his back, and on top of him was sprawled a motionless Sakura.  
  
"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chaaan!" He lifted his arms slightly.   
  
"Naruto! Don't move!" Kakashi and Sasuke jumped down from the tree, and Kakashi strolled over cooly, his arms in his pockets. Sasuke cautiously followed, carefully avoiding the growling heap that lay at the foot of the tree, yet still keeping his eyes on Naruto and Sakura.  
  
They all stayed still for a few minutes. Then there was a small noise, and Naruto could feel Sakura stirring. Her eyes opened, and she turned her head to face Naruto's. She stayed still for a few seconds, blinking confusedly.  
  
"Sa.... Sakura-chan.... are you okay?" Naruto asked, his heart pounding. He had a strange feeling that....  
  
Her eyes narrowed and a fist flew into the air and straight into Naruto's face. "ECCHIII!!!!!!!!"  
  
...... that her memory had returned.  
  
The threesome ambled through the streets of the village. Sakura stamped angrily, both of her hands balled into tight fists. Naruto was one big blotchy red mark... first he had gotten quite a beating from Sakura, then he had gotten beaten once again by the old lady who screamed at him for hurting her "poor poor Keiko-chan baaaabyyy!!" Why she had only blamed Naruto was beyond anyone's guess, but Sasuke suspected she would have gone for Kakashi had he not suddenly had an "urgent errand" as soon they returned to the village and charged the team with returning the lion to her owner.  
  
"So, Sakura...." Sasuke began, guaging her for a violent reaction.  
  
Her face immediately took on a sweet expression and she unclenched her fists. "Yes, Sasuke-kun?"  
  
Yep, she's definetly got her memory back, he thought. He didn't know whether to happy or sad about it.  
  
"So.... you don't remember anything after you fell off that cliff?"  
  
She blinked. She put her finger to her chin. "Oh yeah... I fell off a cliff.... so why was I on the ground when I woke up?" Her face took on a thoughtful expression, and Sasuke swore he could see Naruto's shoulders droop even more than they already were. He thought for a moment about telling Sakura what had happened... and then decided against it. It was probably the wisest decision Sasuke had ever made. 


End file.
